Poetry is patchwork —
& only the best poets
can hide all the seams.
poems
Ruffled feathers
serene spring morning
calm but for two birds brawling
uh — that’s not fighting
Carrying
pick out your fears
worries, anger, and hate
from the bag of stones you carry
and love, find yourself lifted by
the wings of featherweight faith
Finally a bath!
watching birds splash in
morning-after rain puddles
cleanses my spirit
Fast rising east
sunrise glows in carpe-diem pink
aflame with marbled-gold moments
Small things
Small daily events
wrap tendrils about the heart
and keep it floating.
—Cave Outlaw (1900–1996), Autumn Walk, 1974
Counting up
First four decades time’s a hero
Then stops suddenly all the fun
Forty arrives a stranger new
But life is like a grand old tree
Strong yet flexible at the core
Roots ever deepen to stay alive
At this age there’s no real fix
Just patches is all, ’til heaven
Although it still be not too late
So let the autumn soul shine
Breathe and let thy life go zen
How fares it?
Thigh-bone said to breast-bone:
“How fares it, dead,
now heart’s soft hammer
is silencèd?
How fares it, brother,
when the only sound
is slow roots thrusting
into the ground?”
Breast-bone said to thigh-bone:
“How fares it, friend,
with no errands to run,
no knee to bend?
How fares it ghost, now
the only stir
is of quiet becoming
quieter?”
Thigh-bone and breast-bone
said to skull:
“What of dead Plato
and the Greek trull?
How fares it, emblem
of death, set free
from wisdom and lust’s
infirmity?”…
—Humbert Wolfe (1885–1940), from “A Conversation,” 1932
Petals & leaves
i love to
smell the flowers
and sniff the books
sitting in gardens
and library nooks
Early bird
That trusty mockingbird —
you can set your sundial by it.
Bedwriting
it’s smart as can be
things that make sense in our dreams
when we wake — insane
Sky-happy
foggy heavy-gray teary-eyed low-hanging
snow-stuffed melancholy winter clouds
impulsive wayward turbulent thick-swift-dark
tempestuous hail-angered storm clouds
sprinkling lighthearted fanciful breeze-drifted
rainbow-nestled April-hued springtime clouds
enormous white-fluffy fairydust-fringed
frolicsome sun-illumed carefree summer clouds
thunderous intense restless rain-soaked
lightning-streaked July-dyed monsoon clouds
azure-skylit sunglow-slanted edge-gleaming
white-silver billowy contemplative autumn clouds
vivid vibrant blissful dawn-lit joy-beamed
daybreak-florid sunrise-tinted morning clouds
aimless airy midday-lazy wandering listless
mountaintop-floating leisurely afternoon clouds
amber-ablaze day’s-end-pink ephemeral-amethyst
evening-welcome smoky-embered sunset clouds
lambent star-flanked luminous moon-halo’d
glowing shadow-painted skygazers’ night clouds
Cozy inner child
Comfort is — buying an XL
flannel jacket for the winter
even though you’re only a medium
because it reminds you of your daddy —
and on that first chilly day
cold seeps in though the gaps —
but really you don’t much mind
because in your little girl memories
he’s keeping you safe and snuggly warm.